Improvement in bomb-lances



'P. B. COMINS.

Bomb Lance,

No. 23,827. PatentedMay3,1859.

N. PE ERS. PHOTO-LITMOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON D UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

P. B. OOMINS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

' IMPROVEMENT IN BOMB-LANCES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,827, dated May 3, 1859.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, PASGHAL B. OOMINS, of the city and county of San Francisco, in the State of California, have invented a new and useful lmprovementin a Bomb Dart or Lance for Killing Whales and other important purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification.

The dart or lance is made with wings to close up, so as to be put into a gun and fired out. As soon as it is discharged from the gun the springs throw out the wings, which regulate its course and make it go straight.

Figure 1 is a View of the bomb dart or lance when prepared to be put into the gun. Fig. 2 is after its discharge from the gun with the wings extended. Fig. 3 is the interior view of the bomb dart or lance. Fi g. 4 is the breechpin, and Fig. 5 is the elastic wad.

Letter A is the cylinder, intended to be charged with powder. Letter B is the fusetube projecting back from one-half to threequarters of an inch of the breech-pin D to receive the wad E. Letters 0 are the wings attached to the cylinder with metallic springs. The wings are made of cotton drilling oiled with linseed-oil. Letter D is the breech-pin, through which the fuse-tube passes. Letter E is the elastic wad. Letter F is the point of the dart or lance.

My improvement in bomb-lances consists in the employment of wings formed of a flexible material, in connection with metallic springs, forming a part thereof, when so arranged as to be folded on the cylinder of the lance be tween the head and wad. By such arrangement I dispense with recesses in the cylinder for the wings, am enabled to shorten the length of the missile, protect the wings by the wad, and give a certainty of direction after its discharge from the gun.

In shooting whales the gun is fired from the shoulder, and the lighter the bomb, consistently with the necessary quantity of powder, the less the recoil of the gun; and as the elastic wad fills the bore the wings are protected from the fire of the gun.

'What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The employment of Wings formed of a flexible material, in connection with metal springs, as described, when so arranged as to be folded on the cylinder for containing the powder between the head and wad, in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

PASGHAL B. OOMINS.

Witnesses:

JOHN S1ME, GEO. W. MILLER. 

